Last updated: March 2025
In Lisbon's Areeiro district, Urbem, a non-profit organization, is leading the creation of a 2500m2 Miyawaki mini-forest in Casal Vistoso Urban Park. This initiative involves densely planting native species to rapidly establish a diverse, self-sustaining forest ecosystem. Supported by the Lisbon City Council, the project aims to enhance urban biodiversity, improve air quality, and contribute to climate resilience. Volunteers from the local community play a crucial role in every stage, from preparing the land to planting and maintaining the forest. Despite initial challenges, such as a 40-50% plant survival rate, the forest is expected to become self-sustaining within three years. The project focuses on environmental restoration and seeks to engage and educate the community, fostering a sense of ownership and connection to these new green spaces (Ref 1; Ref 2; Ref 3; Ref 4).
Volunteers at work
https://amensagem.pt/2023/03/01/nasceu-dois-anos-primeira-floresta-miyawaki-lisboa-bairros-estao-pedir-mais/
Overview
Nature-based solution
- Parks and urban forests
- Large urban parks or forests
Key challenges
- Climate action for adaptation, resilience and mitigation (SDG 13)
- Climate change adaptation
- Environmental quality
- Air quality improvement
- Green space, habitats and biodiversity (SDG 15)
- Green space creation and/or management
- Habitat and biodiversity restoration
- Habitat and biodiversity conservation
Principal problems in Functional Urban Area (FUA)
- Environmental Degradation
- Biodiversity loss
- Invasive alien species
- Land use and Socio-economic change
- Rapid urbanization
Key priorities
Climate action (adaptation and/or mitigation), Biodiversity (conservation and/or restoration)
Focus
Creation of new green areas, Creation of any other green urban spaces
Project objectives
1. The project aims to increase biodiversity by planting a variety of native species, creating a habitat for local fauna and flora in the urban environment (Ref 1).
2. By establishing dense, self-sustaining forests, the project seeks to improve air quality, reduce the urban heat island effect, and enhance water infiltration, contributing to climate resilience (Ref 3).
3. Urbem encourages local residents to participate in all stages of the project, from planting to maintenance, fostering a sense of ownership and connection to the green spaces (Ref 2).
4. The project serves as a living laboratory for learning about ecology, sustainability, and urban forestry, engaging the community and local schools in environmental education (Ref 4).
5. The ultimate goal is to create a forest that becomes self-sustaining within three years, requiring minimal human intervention (Ref 1).
Implementation activities
- Land Preparation: Trenches and channels are dug to promote water infiltration and manage rainwater runoff, addressing issues of soil dryness and poor water retention, especially during summer months (Ref 1).
- Dense Planting of Native Species: Over 1,700 trees, shrubs, and plants of 32 native species are planted using the Miyawaki method, which involves planting densely to accelerate forest growth and increase biodiversity in an urban context (Ref 3).
- Community Involvement: Urbem organizes volunteer activities at all stages—land preparation, planting, and ongoing maintenance—to engage local residents and create a sense of ownership over the forest, thereby addressing the challenge of maintaining urban green spaces (Ref 2).
- Maintenance and Monitoring: The project includes regular weeding, plant cover renewal, and quarterly monitoring of plant survival, which is crucial for managing the high mortality rates previously reported in the area (Ref 3).
- Educational Outreach: The forest serves as a platform for environmental education, involving schools and the broader community to raise awareness about urban ecology and sustainability (Ref 4).
These activities address the previous problems of sparse and underdeveloped flora, poor soil conditions, and lack of biodiversity by creating a dense, resilient forest that can thrive in an urban environment, enhancing both ecological and social benefits (Ref 3).
Climate-focused activities
Climate change adaptation:
- Increase urban vegetation cover to reduce urban heat island effect
Biodiversity conservation or restoration-focused activities
Biodiversity conservation:
- Protect and enhance urban habitats
- Create new habitats
- Protect species
- Undertake specific measures to protect species
- Undertake specific measures to protect native species
- Control and clean invasive alien species
- Means for conservation governance
- Raise public awareness
- Public engagement
Biodiversity restoration:
- Restore native species
- Clear and control invasive alien species
- Public engagement
Main beneficiaries
- Citizens or community groups
Governance
Management set-up
- Led by non-government actors
Type of initiating organisation
- Non-government organisation/civil society
Participatory approaches/ community involvement
- Joint implementation (e.g. tree planting)
- Citizen oversight (e.g. boards, advisory)
- Citizen monitoring and review
Details on the roles of the organisations involved in the project
The project is run by an NGO called Urbem, which works together with volunteers. Additionally the Lisbon city council provides land and material support and wants to integrate the project into broader sustainability efforts (Ref 3)
Project implemented in response to ...
... an EU policy or strategy?
No
... a national policy or strategy?
Unknown
... a local policy or strategy?
Unknown
Type of enablers
Change agents (individual with major role influence on launching)
Financing
Total cost
Unknown
Source(s) of funding
- Public local authority budget
Type of funding
- Earmarked public budget
Non-financial contribution
Type of non-financial contribution
- Provision of land
- Provision of goods
- Provision of labour
Who provided the non-financial contribution?
- Public authorities (e.g. land, utility services)
- Citizens (e.g. volunteering)
Impacts and Monitoring
Environmental impacts
- Climate change
- Lowered local temperature
- Expected lowered local temperature
- Enhanced carbon sequestration
- Expected enhanced carbon sequestration
- Water management and blue areas
- Improved water quality
- Expected improved water quality
- Green space and habitat
- Increased green space area
- Achieved increased green space area
- Reduced biodiversity loss
- Expected reduced biodiversity loss
- Increased number of species present
- Expected increased number of species present
Economic impacts
- Unknown
Socio-cultural impacts
- Cultural heritage and sense of place
- Improvement in people’s connection to nature
- Achieved improvement in people’s connection to nature
- Education
- Increased support for education and scientific research
- Achieved increased support for education and scientific research
- Increased knowledge of locals about local nature
- Expected increased knowledge of locals about local nature
Type of reported impacts
Presence of formal monitoring system
No
Presence of indicators used in reporting
Yes
Presence of monitoring/ evaluation reports
No evidence in public records
Availability of a web-based monitoring tool
No evidence in public records
Potential risks of implementation and trade-offs
Unknown
References
1.
André, M. (2022). Uma mini-floresta no Areeiro, porque não?. Accessed on August 23, 2024, [Source link];
2.
LPP (2023). Vem ajudar a plantar uma mini-floresta no Areeiro. Accessed on August 23, 2024, [Source link];
3.
Meireles, A. (2023). Lisbon. Mini-forests are growing in Areeiro. Diaro de Noticias, Accessed on August 23, 2024, [Source link];
4.
da Cunha (2023). What are these forests growing in the middle of the city? They are named after a Japanese botanist, Miyawaki, and they bring nature to the neighborhoods. mensagem, Accessed on August 23, 2024, [Source link];
Information about this nature-based solution was collected as part of the Naturescapes project funded by the European Union under Grant Agreement No 101084341.